The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1887-10-15
Making Cider.

Numerous machines for making cider
some to be driven by steam and many
to be worked by hand power-have SUPER
seeded in certain sections Of the country
the old fashioned cider mill. These save
time and labor, but for making superior
article of cider no improvement has really
been made over tho old time mill that
slowly mashed and squeezed the apples,
instead of rapidly reducing them to II
pulp or grinding them to n fine pomacc.
September, October and November are
the cider making months, but the nearer
cold weather it is produced the better the
beverage Will keep.
Good cider cannot be made from de-
fective apples, and the picking up of all
sorts with leaves and dirt attached for
making cider cannot he too severely con-
demned On the contrary, where cider
mot vinegar is the object, II will pay to
reject all unrpe and unsound apples, and
wash them clean and dry them in the sun
until they are little wilted, for the more
water that can be removed from them Mt
this stage the better the cider will be.
The finest table apples do not make the
best cider, the preference as n cider APP
pie being universally given to the Hughes
or Virginia crabs, n snail apple of n little
more than twice the size OF the common
wild crab, not remarkable for the guam
tity of its juice and entirely destitute Of
any good edible qualities, but producing
cider that will command double the price
of that made from more slightly and fine
favored apples. Next comes the Harri-
son. an apple yellow in color, twice as
large as the crab whose juice so closely
matches that of the crab that where they
are grown in the same orchard they are
made into cider together. There are many
other good cider apples, but none that sur
pass the ones mentioned.
Crab cider is remarkable for its spark
ling qualities and spirit, rivaling cham
payne; for the making Of the latter
beverage crab cider is no longer employed.
The secret of handling crab cider consists
in cleansing it from all foreign matter,
scum and sediment, without arresting fer
mentation by heating with fire, or the use
of mustard or chemicals. This is done by
standing it in large open casks holding
three or four barrels until fermentation
has begun and considerable scum has
risen and been skinned from the top,
when the cider is carefully racked of
through faucets placed in the casks
about eight inches) from the bottom so
as not to draw off the sediment, and it Is
then sometimes strained through filters
of clean sand or charcoal, when it is
barreled and stored in cool cellar ready
for sale Where one or more additional
rackings are given, the slow filtering may
be dispensed with. Whenever the sup
pressed fermentation going on in the
barrel manifests itself SO strongly as to
swell out the heads, it is necessary to give
the gas n temporary vent by small GIN
let hole near the bung which at once gives
relief, when it may be stopped with pin
plug that can be easily drawn out to
allow another escape Of the gas when
it becomes necessary. This treatment is
equally applicable to cider made from other
varieties OF apples, but to those who pre-
fer sweetness to sparkle and spirit, q
different one is required.
There are various ways of preventing
fermentation. The best, though requir-
ing more labor than others, consists in
scalding the cider in copper kettles or a
large copper still that will hold three or
four barrels, the scalding to stop just as
boiling is about to begin, when the fire
should be drawn from under the still and
the liquor be placed in an open cask large
enough to hold it until it becomes en-
trely cold, when it is drawn off in the
same manner as directed for crab cider.
During the heating n great mass of fine
pomace will rise to the top in The still,
which should be continually skinned off
and several inches of fine sediment will
remain in the bottom Of the cask after the
cider has grown cold. Where from fifty
to 100 barrels of cider are made yearly
about six of the large open casks will be
wanted and should be be set high enough
from the ground to allow cider to run
from the faucets into barrels. Other pro
cesses are the use of mustard seed or sui
phate Of lime as soon as the cider is bar
relied. but whatever method is adopted to
keep cider sweet, there are none that will
preserve it precisely as it came from the
press.
Cider is better when the pomace re-
mains over night without being pressed
Clean rye straw is the best straining ma
terial to be used in laying up the cheese,
and the press and casks should be thor
oughly cleansed before using second
time Cider should never be allowed to
freeze and thaw. When from neglect it
has frozen to any considerable degree it
should be drawn off into other barrels,
leaving the ice when melted to be thrown
away or used to replenish the vinegar
barrels. AS compensation for the waste
incurred in freezing whether done acct
dentally or purposely, the cider when
drawn off will be found improved to an
astonishing degree by natures own pro-
cess for expelling the surplus water.
Evaporating the water by boiling the
cider will ruin it for beverage. Cham
payne cider is quite frequently made by
charging cider that is deficient in spirit
and sparkle with carbonic acid gas, and
manufacturers of cider who are not farm
ers have many methods of presenting the
article to their customers in a pleasing
form that are not practicable on the farm.
The New Corn Ensilage.
The latest plan with ensilage is to cut
the entire corn crop-stalks, ears and all